Many people don’t think of digital assets when creating their estate plans. From financial apps like e-wallets and crypto markets to social media platforms that house years of memories, it is essential to provide usernames, passwords, and succession wishes to your loved ones. Our Winter Park, FL estate planning lawyer is dedicated to protecting your future and your legacy. We will help identify your digital assets, include them in your estate plan, and answer any questions you have along the way. Our goal is to make sure your wishes are honored. Put our passion for the law to work for you and schedule a consultation with our legal team today.
Identifying Digital Assets
Understanding which digital assets to include in your estate plan is important. They can be financial or sentimental, but ultimately, you want to focus on where you store critical information that your loved ones may need or want access to after you pass away. Examples of digital assets our Winter Park estate planning lawyer recommends putting in your estate plan are:
- Email addresses
- Social media platforms
- Online banking information
- E-wallets (Crypto, PayPal, Venmo, etc.)
- Cloud storage
- Electronic passwords (cellphone, computer, laptop, etc.)
For each of these items, you want to list out the app or URL needed to access it, the username, the password, and security questions/answers. Most online platforms use two-step authentication to protect accounts, so making sure that your loved ones can sign in to your email and phone is critical.
Why Digital Assets Matter in Estate Planning
We rely on websites and apps to complete a lot of daily tasks in our lives. Without the usernames or passwords to these accounts, your loved ones may lose meaningful photos and memories. It also leaves your online presence more vulnerable to hackers, leading to fraud and other undesirable consequences that your family members may have to contend with.
While online banking is convenient, it can also pose a problem during probate if you do not specify a beneficiary and grant them access to your accounts in your will. Most notably, cryptocurrency accounts are highly secure, requiring a passcode and key to sign in. Without this information, your investments can be lost forever.
Updating Your Estate Plan to Include Digital Assets
As we rely on technology more in our daily lives, our online footprint expands, requiring frequent reviews and updates to estate plans. Our attorney recommends giving your estate plan a once-over every few years. However, major lifestyle changes could require earlier revisions.
Keeping a list of your online accounts with the sign-in details for each is an excellent safeguard to make sure you don’t miss a digital asset. You can keep a notebook in a safe or maintain an encrypted document on your computer. Whichever method you choose, make sure you outline where to find it and how to access it in your estate plan.
Protect Your Future with Digital Asset Estate Planning
We have transitioned to storing critical information on our phones, like contact details, calendars, saved passwords, and more. It is convenient to have this available at your fingertips, but if you become incapacitated or pass away, your loved ones could face a significant obstacle. Don’t make the mistake of overlooking your digital assets in your estate plan.
Hirani Law is family-owned, and our attorneys have nearly fifty years of combined legal experience. We understand how important it is to protect your legacy and make sure your heirs are taken care of. Let our Winter Park estate planning attorney guide you through every step of the process. Take the first step toward creating a personalized estate plan and give our office a call to schedule a free, initial consultation.